Influence of socioeconomic status and family support on disability, depressive symptoms, and perceived poor health in older Korean adults

• Main Authors: Insook Lee (Author), Young Ko (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: JMIR Publications, 2017-05-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.9741/23736658.1045; 2373-6658
• Keywords: aged; socioeconomic status; health status; disparities; sex; family; Nursing; RT1-120
• Source: Asian/Pacific Island Nursing Journal, Vol 2, Iss 1, Pp 29-36 (2017)

This purpose of this study is to identify factors associated with older Korean adults' disability, depressive symptoms, and perceived poor health, with a focus on their socioeconomic status and family support. This is a secondary data analysis of the initial survey data from a home visiting center in 2009. The data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, and multivariate logistic regression. We observed significant differences in perceived health between men and women based on their socioeconomic status. Type of medical insurance was strongly associated with depressive symptoms among the men and women. Results also indicated that being unschooled was significantly related to perceived poor health among women. Family support also influenced their health status, particularly their depressive symptoms. This study suggests that interventions for reducing health inequalities should target older adults with Medicaid and have poor family support, taking a gender-specific approach.